This invention relates generally to automotive engineering and more particularly to a shielding blanket for racing engines. The blanket is intended to contain parts and help prevent fire, in the event of severe engine failure.
Prior inventors have proposed devices to control shrapnel produced during engine failures. Great progress has been made in this aspect of racing safety. For example, clutch and flywheel explosions, once quite a danger to drag racing participants and spectators, are no longer major concerns, because of the effectiveness of commonly used shields and transmission blankets that contain clutch and flywheel parts when those parts disintegrate. Similarly, supercharger tethers and other restraints prevent superchargers from being launched into the crowd, as once they occasionally were.
A problem which remains unsolved, however, is to contain engine parts and oil when the lower end of an engine fails. Typically, a piston or connecting rod breaks, the crankshaft pushes the connecting rod through the side of the engine block casting, and other failures rapidly ensue. Any number of rapidly moving parts may suddenly leave the confines of the engine, and perhaps the engine compartment, making the description "grenading" apt. The driver and spectators risk injury from flying metal objects, and the rear tires of the vehicle may be punctured. But even when shrapnel is not produced, it is common for the engine's oil to escape during engine failure. The release of several quarts of oil, much of it finely atomized, frequently results in fire, since the engine's exhaust headers ordinarily run well above the ignition temperature of oil. Headers are a likely target for escaping oil, since they pass only inches from the sides of the engine and the oil pan. And even when fire does not ensue, the race track is spread with oil--a danger to subsequent traffic, requiring time-consuming intervention by race officials. So, oil containment, and ultimately fire safety, are important considerations.
Some inventors have addressed the oil spillage problem. The solutions they proposed range from simple mats designed to keep one's garage floor clean to belly pans and like devices intended to catch spilling oil. These prior devices were not supposed to catch a whole crankcase full of hot oil, suddenly released, and would not have reliably kept the oil off the exhaust headers. Neither were prior oil restraints designed to retain all engine parts during mechanical engine failure. This invention aims, ideally, at performing both functions. It should be recognized, however, that the most catastrophic failures may be difficult to contain.
It may be observed that a fire sometimes precedes engine failure. For example, should the front end of the crankshaft break off, oil could escape and ignite within the engine compartment. The engine may explode moments later. So a physical restraint for shrapnel should retain its strength for as long as possible in the presence of fire.